Welcome back listeners and all sports fans! In the third episode of The Bonehead Podcast, we discuss an exciting new study in the field of orthopedic sports medicine. This investigation generated four machine learning algorithms and compared their ability to predict the risk of lower extremity muscle strains to traditional logistic regression. This level III case control study by Dr. Yining Lu et al. from Mayo Clinic in Minnesota is titled “Machine Learning for Predicting Lower Extremity Muscle Strain in National Basketball Association Athletes” and was published in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine in July 2022. Here, we briefly break down the main points and the authors’ discussion about possible explanations for the variables, such as free throw rate and recent same-site injury, that they identified as significant contributors to risk of LEMS. In terms of this episode’s educational points, we cover the advantages of a case control design, as well as the utility of analyzing the “area under the curve” (AUC) to determine the most optimally performing model.

Welcome back listeners! In the second episode of The Bonehead Podcast, we break down a study that discusses a novel surgical technique called Anterior Vertebral Body Tethering (AVBT), which is an alternative treatment modality compared to the traditional Posterior Spinal Fusion (PSF) for Progressive Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis. This retrospective cohort study titled “Trunk Range of Motion and Patient Outcomes After Anterior Vertebral Body Tethering Versus Posterior Spinal Fusion” was published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery in September 2022. Here, we discuss the paper’s key findings and discourse about the benefits and shortcomings of this recently FDA approved surgery. As always, we conclude the episode with educational points, this time covering selection bias, cohort study designs, and the impact of research findings on patients’ quality of life.

Welcome to the inaugural episode of The Bonehead Podcast, where we break down a randomized controlled trial paper titled “Effect of Intrawound Vancomycin Powder in Operatively Treated High-risk Tibia Fractures” published in the journal JAMA Surgery in March 2021. Here, we provide a ten-minute summary of the key findings and clinical correlations, as well as introduce some valuable educational points for our medical student listeners, such as the importance of randomization and blinding.